The invention relates to a steering system for motor vehicles with a multiple-part steering column, in which a rigid steering column part in the vicinity of the steering wheel is guided in an outer tube and in which a deformable second steering column part, for example in the form of a corrugated tube, is located between this first steering column part and the steering gear, and in which the outer tube is fastened to a cross support passing between the windshield pillars of the vehicle.
A basic object of the present invention is to so arrange a steering system of the above-noted type that, with substantial vehicle front structure deformation in the case of a frontal collision, the outer tube is placed in a flatter attitude and the steering wheel is thereby lowered in order to obtain more favorable conditions regarding the impact of the driver onto the steering wheel.
This object is achieved according to the invention by providing that the outer tube is additionally supported on a cross support passing below the vehicle windshield by means of at least one strut or similar device passing in the interior of the vehicle in front of the front bulkhead.
The two cross supports remain substantially stationary even in the case of significant front structure deformation when the vehicle experiences a frontal collision. In contrast, the front bulkhead experiences rearward displacement due to the vehicle engine or its accessory parts impinging on it. As a consequence of this rearward displacement of the front bulkhead, it in turn impinges on and effectively shortens the steering column support strut or struts proposed by the invention. The shortening of the strut or struts results in a pivoting of the outer rigid support tube of the steering system about the cross support passing between the windshield pillars (A-columns) and thereby a lowering of the steering wheel.
For this purpose, particularly favorable conditions are given if the strut, in an especially advantageous embodiment of the invention, is applied to the end of the outer support tube which is remote from the steering wheel.
Particularly good stabilization of the steering system in the vehicle cross direction is achieved according to especially refined embodiments by providing two struts which cross in X-shape and are fastened to the cross support on a wide base.
Stabilization according to certain preferred embodiments is achieved with the strut formed as a sheet metal plate which has a wide base acting as the fastening to the cross support.
Finally, certain preferred embodiments include the metal plate strut with cutouts for weight reduction.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which shows, for purposes of illustration only, several embodiments in accordance with the present invention.